Hurricane Irene

[Judge Jude]

I realize that tough Texans who measure themselves by MPH will scoff at these soft North Jerseyans, but this is the reality for my hometown and the town next door:

http://videos.nj.com/star-ledger/2011/08/raw_video_of_flooding_from_riv.html

As noted in earlier comments, I am in NO jeopardy, thank God.

But this is my neighborhood.

Katrina?

Not even close, per N'Awlins. Been there, so nothing can compare, of course.

Walk in the park for colleagues, in comparison (and the usual spectacularly sunny weather today and tomorrow, not even close to beat).

[cardboardbox]

But when it reached NJ it still WAS a hurricane. Post your correction here.

Have you ever been to the northeast? There's a lot of people in a little space on a lot of water.

crap, my mistake, I read New York today and remembered NJ. So it was 74+ mph at that point. Actually I wanted to visit NYC sometime soon but it might be best to put that on hold.

[Judge Jude]

The odds of another bad beat on NYC even in a hurricane summer/fall summer are slim.

I'll buy you the 1st 2 rounds and work a NYC priceline strategy if need be (just killed in a CHI pilgramage to Wrigley) on a trip up here.

[cardboardbox]

I'm pretty sure this was one of the bigger storms the east coast has seen in many many years, there just normally aren't tropical storms this far north on the east coast. If I remember correctly, you live in Texas, what would happen if half an inch of snow fell in your town?

we usually stay home when that happens.

Look, trees fall down in storms like this, it knocks down power lines, is that what you are referring to regarding the infrastructure gets overwhelmed? Nature can be a b!tch and can't be controlled, even if it doesn't look to bad to you when you are sitting comfortably in your couch.

I mean the flooding, the power expected to be down for weeks... I guess I have this picture in my mind of the northeast being rock solid, at least the urban areas.

[cardboardbox]

The odds of another bad beat on NYC even in a hurricane summer/fall summer are slim.

I'll buy you the 1st 2 rounds and work a NYC priceline strategy if need be (just killed in a CHI pilgramage to Wrigley) on a trip up here.

I meant the cleanup might take a while and as a first time visitor, maybe not the best time to see the city?

I keep seeing NYC on the news and it really doesnt look that bad, so thats where my initial question kind of came from. But after doing a little research it does look like this storm caused a lot of damage. I think it was Nate Silver who predicted $500 million in damage from a category 1 storm which looks to be tiny compared to the actual number.... and I'm guessing that spending on making the northeast more hurricane resistant is a waste of money considering this likely wont happen again for quite some time?

[madducks]

Well this has been a fun 1 day AFTER the hurricane. Power was on all during the hurricane until 11 am yesterday. Power in the rest of thr town went out around 5:30 pm. Still out today and it is reported to be out for another 4 to 7 days. This sucks.

We were spared this time in SW Pennsylvania, but we were without electric and water for 4 days during the February 2010 snowstorm so i know what that feels like. It does suck. Hope your situation improves soon along with all of the other RJers.

[Bob Kohm]

Don't feed the troll.

[Erik]

We had power until 11:30 AM on Sunday, when the rain was mostly gone. Then the winds got real bad and a utility pole near us snapped. We still had no power on Monday morning, and left for my in-laws' in S. Jersey. The house is dry, though.

[B-Fly]

The major damage from this storm wasn't caused by the winds, but by the sheer volume of water and resultant flooding. With the post-storm runoff, they don't expect the major rivers in NJ to top off until sometime tomorrow. In terms of the flooding and the damage it has caused and continues to cause, wind speeds were irrelevant.

[B-Fly]

[Moonlight J]

The major damage from this storm wasn't caused by the winds, but by the sheer volume of water and resultant flooding. With the post-storm runoff, they don't expect the major rivers in NJ to top off until sometime tomorrow. In terms of the flooding and the damage it has caused and continues to cause, wind speeds were irrelevant.

This is what usually happens.

The wind knocks out trees which takes down the power lines but the flooding gets everyone. When we took the double-whammy within 3 weeks in Florida, it sucked because repairs from Charley couldn't be done in time before Frances struck so the water damage was terrible.

[B-Fly]

Also, unlike many other parts of the country, the natural state of most of the east coast is forest, so even when you account for urban/suburban sprawl, I think there are a lot more big trees in proximity to power lines and homes than in the parts of the country that are natural plains or deserts. One of the reasons that damage tends to be worse outside of NYC itself is that, for better or worse, much of NYC is far more cleared of big trees than the surrounding areas.

[ironfist]

After we made it through the storm with only a few inched of water in the basement, I thought the worst was over. Then sundy evening all hell broke loose. A retaining wall for the river failed and water started swallowing up houses. We watched as the water crept up our street. We were ordered to evacuate. They opened the dam several times during the night. We couldnt make it to my parents house 5 miles away because all the roads were closed off. It was crazy not knowing what was happening with your home. We were able to return the next day, but only on foot. We were extremely fortunate and had no damage but our neighbors were not so lucky. There was still water in our street -still is right now. Some houses were underwater, cars on the next street completely under. Boats were going down the street in front of my house to help people who were trapped. Most houses are still under and powerand cable is out for a lot of the area. So thats how it is here in case anyone thinks its no big deal. Luckily the police and fire have been working hard and it doesnt seem like there were many, if any, deaths.

[TranaGreg]

wow, good luck ironfist ... sounds pretty crazy ...

[Piney Boy]

We were spared this time in SW Pennsylvania, but we were without electric and water for 4 days during the February 2010 snowstorm so i know what that feels like. It does suck. Hope your situation improves soon along with all of the other RJers.

Actually JCP&L did an amazing job. Power was back on after 25 hrs. Not bad. Most of the town was back on except for 2 traffic lights and part of the shopping center. Yes THE shopping center that is only Acme, Dollar Tree, Fashion Bug, True Value, Pizza Shop, Peebles, Shoe store, and Radio Shack. My grandmother was out for less than 12 hours I think. Much better than original estimates.